Court’s Evidentiary Initiative in Disputes Concerning Business to Business Trading in the Polish Civil Procedure

Purpose: The main goal of the research is to determine the conclusions concerning the court's right to admit and examine evidence ex officio, without the litigants' initiative in this respect, with particular emphasis on the type of entities which are parties to the dispute and the consequences of taking or not taking such an initiative. Design/Methodology/Approach: The paper focuses on the analysis of the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure in the scope of admissibility of the civil court's evidentiary initiative, with particular consideration of the prerequisites for its application, taking into account the subjective aspects. Court decisions were analysed in this respect as well in order to determine whether undertaking the initiative of taking evidence by the court constitutes the obligation or right of the court. The issue of the consequences of both the court's taking the evidence initiative and its failure was also raised in the context of the possibility to appeal the court's decision on this ground. Findings: The results of the research indicated the need for the Supreme Court to adopt a firm resolution having the force of a legal principle dispelling these doubts. Expecting the legislator to make the provisions more precise seems groundless, as it is impossible to cover all procedural situations with a general provision. Practical Implications: The results of the research indicated the need to develop a framework that could be used for evaluation of social campaigns impact on realization level of SDGs. Originality/Value: The conducted research has contributed to determining the admissibility of evidentiary initiative by civil courts in an adversarial trial, taking into account the professional character of the business activity conducted by the parties to the dispute.